Tagline
The moment Paige spotted the handsome stranger across the crowded room, she knew. Somehow...she knew.
In a Nutshell
Paige is a teacher. She notices one of the parents and finds out he's divorced. He asks her to help him cook an acorn squash. They hit it off.
Observations
This story didn't grab me. I thought it was strange that he would ask her out. I know his son was not in her class, but it still felt weird to me. Perhaps if they'd had more of a conversation than "Where can I find Mrs. Ericson's room" I would have understood and accepted that this was a normal progression, but it seemed out of the blue to invite her to his house for dinner.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get past that. However, I did think the end was clever.
9 comments:
YES! They met one time, and he asks her to come to his house and not just HAVE dinner, but help him make it? I'd have said "hell no!"
I also agree with both of you. I can't imagine a teacher out of the blue asking a parent on a date after just saying hello. And yes, to help fix it too. There definitely needed to be more of a set up for it.
I really wanted to like this story, but have to agree with all of you. It seemed rather strange to invite her over so quick. Wasn't a big fan of that!
On a different note, it seems WW likes stories with an old-fashioned, small town feel. I kind of like it too, but wonder if they would ever entertain the idea of having a story set in larger, real-life places? Like Nashville, Chicago, etc. Wonder if they would be o.k. with that, or automatically reject the manuscript for not being set in a small Andy Griffith like town?
I've seen plenty of stories set in bigger cities. And I can say with certainty that they will not reject a story merely because it's set in the city. They want GOOD stories and most likely won't quibble about details like that.
I guess I love the song so much (because of the music my grandfather listened to) that I overlooked the rushed dinner invite. The song played in my head the whole time I read the story. Lol. I really enjoyed this one. I guess that was a hook for me.
FYI, Christina Dodd wrote a book with the same title. It is a very good read. I think she has several with song titles.
Anonymous, I recently had a romance published that took place on Chicago's lakefront.
Kate and Tamara,
Thank you for your posts! That makes me feel a lot more confident about writing this story that has been swimming around in my mind the past week.
Congrats Kate on your recent sale! And Tamara, many congrats to you on your Chicago story, too!
I think this story was all about the song and the conviction that the two people are meant for each other. Hence, the imponderable home cooked date right off the bat.
If memory serves, though, wasn't that Enchanted Evening song written from the male point of view? I did not feel it was working well from the woman's viewpoint.
Glad for the assurance that WW will accept big city stories, because one of the stories I still have in their shop is set in San Francisco where I used to live.
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